Mailbox Monday and It's Monday, What are You Reading? August 25 Edition

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia who now blogs at To Be Continued. It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Mailbox Monday now has a permanent home on its blog. Link up to share your MM.

These are the last days of summer, and we're packing in all kinds of activities, especially since my sister is in town from Switzerland. Thanks for all your comments! I will be making the rounds later this week, and hopefully September will afford me more blog time and commenting.

I have two giveaways still running. Check my left sidebar and enter the ones you like. :-)

This is what I got for review:

Who Knows Tomorrow: A Memoir of Finding Family Among the Lost Children of Africa by Lisa Lovatt-Smith

Born in Spain and raised by a struggling single mother, Lisa Lovatt-Smith became an editor at BritishVogue at nineteen, the youngest in Condé Nast history. She helped launch Spanish Vogue and partied across Europe with celebrities, fashion designers, photographers, and supermodels.

By her thirties, Lisa has her dream career and a glamorous life in Paris, but when her adopted daughter Sabrina is expelled from school, Lisa takes her to volunteer in a Ghanaian orphanage in the hopes of getting her back on track. What she discovers there changes both their lives for good.

Appalled by the deplorable conditions she finds, Lisa moves to Ghana permanently and founds OAfrica, dedicating her personal resources to reuniting hundreds of Ghanaian children with their families and spearheading a drive to shut down corrupt orphanages. On this unforgettable journey, Lisa confronts death threats, malaria, arson, and heartbreaking poverty; she also discovers truly inspiring children trapped in limbo by a moneymaking scheme bigger than she ever imagined.
Who Knows Tomorrow is the engaging, frank, and often surprisingly funny story of one amazing woman who has traveled the globe in search of meaningful connection. Although to Lisa her story will always be about the children, it’s also a touching celebration of a woman who is talented, generous, and unfailingly courageous.

My Year of Epic Rock by Andrea Pyros

Nina Simmons' song would be "You Can't Always Eat What You Want." (Peanut allergies, ugh). But that's okay, because as her best friend Brianna always said, "We're All in This Together."

Until the first day of the seventh grade, when Brianna dumps her to be BFFs with the popular new girl. Left all alone, Nina is forced to socialize with "her own kind"--banished to the peanut-free table with the other allergy outcasts. As a joke, she tells her new pals they should form a rock band called EpiPens. (Get it?) Apparently, allergy sufferers don't understand sarcasm, because the next thing Nina knows she's the lead drummer.

Now Nina has to decide: adopt a picture-perfect pop personality to fit in with Bri and her new BFF or embrace her inner rocker and the spotlight. Well..

Call Me a Rock Star, Maybe.

The Sea House by Elizabeth Gifford

In 1860, Alexander Ferguson, a newly ordained vicar and amateur evolutionary scientist, takes up his new parish, a poor, isolated patch on the remote Scottish island of Harris. He hopes to uncover the truth behind the legend of the selkies—mermaids or seal people who have been sighted off the north of Scotland for centuries. He has a more personal motive, too; family legend states that Alexander is descended from seal men. As he struggles to be the good pastor he was called to be, his maid Moira faces the terrible eviction of her family by Lord Marstone, whose family owns the island. Their time on the island will irrevocably change the course of both their lives, but the white house on the edge of the dunes keeps its silence long after they are gone.

It will be more than a century before the Sea House reluctantly gives up its secrets. Ruth and Michael buy the grand but dilapidated building and begin to turn it into a home for the family they hope to have. Their dreams are marred by a shocking discovery. The tiny bones of a baby are buried beneath the house; the child's fragile legs are fused together—a mermaid child. Who buried the bones? And why? To heal her own demons, Ruth feels she must discover the secrets of her new home—but the answers to her questions may lie in her own traumatic past. The Sea House by Elisabeth Gifford is a sweeping tale of hope and redemption and a study of how we heal ourselves by discovering our histories.

Won at Bluerose's Heart (Thank you!):

The Hope Quotient by Ray Johnston

Hope: It’s the one thing that can change everything!

When you have hope, eleven things are unleashed in your life:
You have more satisfying relationships.
You’re more productive.
You’re less affected by stress.
You’re more successful.
You’re more satisfied.
You’re more compassionate.
You’re more willing to help people in need.
You’re physically healthier.
You hold yourself to higher moral and ethical standards.
You’re more likely to assume leadership.
You’re more likely to see God as loving, caring, and forgiving.

This book will help you discover your HQ level and learn the seven key factors that, when built into your life, unleash hope. When you have genuine hope—not trite, pious platitudes but authentic hope that produces inner strength and confidence—anything is possible.

This meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. This is where we keep track of what we are currently reading and plan to read. The kidlit version is hosted by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts.

Read and reviewed:
The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell (Reviewed by Sandra)

Currently Reading:

Mao's Last Dancer by Li Cunxin (for my book club)

Have you read any of these books?

Sunday, August 24, 2014